Right to Rent causing landlords to discriminate against foreigners

It found that 23% of student landlords are less likely to consider a non-British tenant and 76% won’t consider those who can’t provide the necessary documentation instantly.

Right to Rent causing landlords to discriminate against foreigners

The government’s Right to Rent checks are causing landlords to discriminate against foreign students, research from StudentTenant.com suggests.

It found that 23% of student landlords are less likely to consider a non-British tenant and 76% won’t consider those who can’t provide the necessary documentation instantly.

The Right to Rent checks launched in early 2016 require landlords to check if tenants are legally in the country, threatening them with a penalty of up to £3,000 per tenant if they fail to comply.

Danielle Cullen, managing director at StudentTenant.com, said: “Instead of actually assisting with a problem which should essentially be managed by the government, it has simply created divides and increased discrimination and access to housing for non-British tenants which is just not acceptable.”

Of the 7,806 calls made by landlords to the Home Office between July 2015 and June 2016, only 32 illegal tenants were deported.

Cullen added: “When the new Right to Rent regulations were introduced there was uproar amongst the landlord community, because of the supposedly unfair burden placed on them in relation to enforcing immigration laws.

“I have to say that the apparent ineffective implementation of the regulations so far seems to have warranted that uproar, particularly given the adverse effects on the international community legally residing within the UK.

“The worst part must be the lack of resources to actually police the changes, represented by the very minimal number of fines and deportations.